First of all, congratulations to the movie "Chosin Lake" for breaking through the box office of 3 billion! Although there are regrets, it is still gratifying that the film can show the audience full of positive energy and correct values.
When it comes to the Battle of Chosin Lake, in addition to the shocking "Ice Sculpture Company", the most memorable scene is the scene of the special combat hero Yang Gensi rushing to the enemy with an explosive package. This is not the first time this scene has appeared on the big screen. In the classic film "Heroes and Children", the image of the hero Wang Cheng was developed according to Yang Gensi. But in fact, Yang Gensi's performance in the battle was not only the last highlight moment, he had created a big miracle before the battle began. Even if Yang Gensi did not sacrifice in the battle, he would still be because of this miracle and merit. But what is the reason that Yang Gensi will not retreat from the battle and die with the enemy?
Yang Gen died in 1922 in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, his real name is Yang Gengxi, and is an absolutely bitter origin. At the age of 8, his parents died, and Yang Gensi could only live with his brother. The brothers traveled to Shanghai to work as child laborers in a carpet factory, exhausted and tired every day. In 1942, the factory closed, Yang Gensi returned to his hometown, and under the influence of the anti-Japanese deeds of the New Fourth Army, he joined the basic cadres under the security regiment.
In February 1944, Yang Gensi signed up for the New Fourth Army. At the time of registration, the staff asked him what his name was, and he replied "Yang Gengxi". Probably because of the accent problem, the recorder mistakenly recorded it as "Yang Gensi", and since then he has had a new name. Soon after joining the army, he participated in the battle to attack the puppet army stronghold, killed the enemy with a spear, and captured the first gun of his life.
Soon after, Yang Gensi systematically learned blasting and became the "King of Blasting in East China". In June 1945, he fought against the Kuomintang army in Zhejiang, and blew up the enemy's fire point with two grenades, opening up a passage for the troops, so he was selected as a model of combat. In 1946, when he attacked the Tai'an Catholic Church, Yang Gensi cleverly attacked the commanding heights of the city with 18 grenades, and was selected as a "battle hero". In the subsequent Battles of Yanzhou, Lunan and Huaihai, Yang Gensi created many explosion miracles, so he was promoted to company commander and was named a national combat hero, and was received by Chairman Mao.
In 1950, the Korean War broke out, and the 9th Corps, commanded by General Song Shilun, rushed to Korea. Yang Gensi, who had just participated in the hero's meeting, also went out with the team and led the 3rd Company of the 172nd Regiment of the 58th Division of the 20th Army of the Volunteer Army to the battlefield. Due to the leakage of intelligence, the 9th Corps had to set out in a hurry when the preparations were not yet complete, and the thick cotton coat was seriously lacking, which triggered a series of difficulties that followed.
According to the strategic vision, the advance regiment led by Marshal Peng Dehuai quickly posed a weak posture after the victory of the first battle to lure the enemy who had been beaten away to come back. Under the command of Walker, commander of the American front, the enemy advanced in two directions, east and west. Yang Gensi's 9th Corps was mainly responsible for dividing and annihilating the enemy's 1st Marine Division along the Chosin Lake area of the Eastern Front. The task given to Yang Gensi by his superiors was to hold on to the small high ridge located in the southeast direction of the "1071 Highland" on the outskirts of Hagaru-ri, Chogjin County, South Hamgyong Province. Yang Gensi's 3rd Company was still a considerable distance from its destination when he received the order, and he had to lead his troops on a 4-day rapid march.
The 4-day rapid march is already a very intense subject during military training, and it is even more difficult in the Korean battlefield. Due to the lack of aircraft cover, the US military has absolute air superiority and conducts uninterrupted reconnaissance and bombing during the day. In order to avoid the enemy, the volunteers could only march at night as much as possible, which was equivalent to reducing the time they could move for several hours a day, and the intensity of the unit's march had to be increased again. This is undoubtedly a severe test for the volunteers who marched all on their legs.
In addition to the intensity of the march and the enemy's bombardment, the volunteers faced the most terrible opponent, which was the extreme cold. At this time, the Korean Peninsula was experiencing a cold snap that did not necessarily last for decades, and the temperature was extremely low. The Chosin Lake area, which used to be one of the coldest in North Korea, is even more chilling at this time. During the day, the temperature has dropped to more than minus 30 degrees Celsius, and the temperature at night is more likely to drop below minus 40 degrees! The 9th Corps did not have time to equip thick cotton clothes in China, and after entering North Korea, the supply line was attacked by the US military, resulting in a shortage of cold equipment. The "military shoes" worn by the volunteers are actually pull-back sneakers made in the Shanghai factory, and the elasticity of the rubber is lost in the cold, and they are hard and cold like iron plates. Coupled with the fact that the night march did not dare to light a fire for warmth, the 4-day rush march really did not know how Yang Gensi's 3 companies survived.
I have to say that Yang Gensi is indeed a company commander who is good at using his brain. According to local conditions, he actually found some "local methods" to withstand the cold. When the troops were marching, he would let the soldiers wrap their hats with towels to protect themselves; when the soles of the shoes were hard and cold, he ordered the soldiers to use corn leaves as insoles, or wrap their feet to separate the human body from the cold soles; if it was really frozen, he would rub his feet with snow to promote blood circulation; when he camped, he would order the soldiers to build a snow wall with snow to block the cold wind; when resting, he would let the soldiers collect branches to spread the oilcloth on the ground, and then huddled together as a unit for warmth Moreover, Yang Gensi would constantly patrol the company, constantly reminding the soldiers to keep moving and not sleep. Of course, these methods cannot completely drive away the cold, but they can effectively maintain the vitality of the human body. When they reached the designated area, none of the 169 soldiers of the 3 companies were reduced due to the severe cold! This was a great miracle among the volunteers at that time.
It can be seen from this that Yang Gensi is definitely a good company commander who loves soldiers like a son. However, in the next few days, the fully manned 3 companies suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing battle. We certainly know that this is for the victory of the battle, but the brutality of the battle is still beyond imagination. Because they were guarding the only way for the U.S. army to retreat south from Chosin Lake, Hagaru-ri.
The Korean Peninsula is mountainous and less plain, and the same is true in the Chosin Lake region. The U.S. military is a mechanized force with heavy equipment such as vehicles and tanks, and relies heavily on modern vehicles and roads. The only thing they can do overland sports in the Chosin Lake area is almost only a road near Hagaru-ri. Once the battle begins, there will inevitably be a large number of enemy troops breaking through from here. If you want to successfully completely annihilate the First Marine Division, Yang Gensi's position must not be lost! Therefore, the order given to Yang Gensi by his superiors was to hold his position at all costs. Only when he holds here and completely seals the enemy, can the troops in the rear surround and cover up completely annihilate the enemy.
Why only send a company to guard such an important position? This is not the case.
To be honest, in addition to the poor configuration of the 9th Corps in the cold equipment this time, there have also been some situations in other aspects.
According to the initial estimate, the total strength of the enemy should be more than 10,000 people, which is calculated from the structure of the "division". One division of the Volunteer Army, that is, so many people. Therefore, the 9th Corps surrounded and annihilated with 4 corps and a total strength of 150,000 people, and the number was nearly ten times the advantage! Moreover, since the beginning of the war, the US military has advanced extremely fast, often drilling into the pocket array. If this is the case, this siege and annihilation war is very certain.
However, the actual strength of the US military is beyond imagination. The total strength of the First Marine Division alone is more than 25,000, not to mention the partial strength of the Seventh Division, which is also operating together, with a total of more than 30,000. This caused the volunteers' original ten-fold superiority to become fivefold. If you consider the firepower gap between the two sides, the 9th Corps is not dominant, and can even be said to be at a disadvantage. Moreover, the commander of the First Marine Division, Major General Oliver Smith, is also one of the few "old foxes" in the U.S. army, and since he set foot on the Chosin Lake area, he has felt that this place is dangerous. Therefore, he did not dare to let the troops move easily, but first built an airfield to ensure the smoothness of the retreat road. On the land side, his marching speed was also reduced to an outrageous 3 kilometers a day, almost climbing. This kept them from fully entering the ambush circle preset by the Volunteers.
Battlefield conditions must echo east and west. On November 27, seeing that Peng Dehuai was about to open fire, Song Shilun decided not to wait for the First Marine Division to completely fall into the ground and launch an attack on the spot! When this decision was made, it was already doomed to the strategic intention of completely annihilating the enemy.
By the time the Americans broke through to Hagaru-ri on November 29, 3 Companies of Yang Gensi had been waiting for them for three days. These three days, however, are really not easy, the troops who no longer move will be nailed to the position, and they must remain stationary during the day, which makes the cold even more unbearable. The warriors waited left and right, the enemy just wouldn't come, and their heads were freezing and hurting. If the enemy does not come in two days, the 3rd Company is likely to become the first "Ice Sculpture Company". So when the enemy came, everyone was very excited.
This excitement was soon reflected in combat effectiveness. The 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the U.S. Army, as a pathfinder, preemptively stepped on this road in Hagaru-ri, only to be immediately attacked by Yang Gensi's troops. After a little calm, the U.S. army began to attack the 1071 heights, and Yang Gensi and the 3rd platoon bore the brunt! With their topographical superiority and flexible tactics, they made every enemy charge pay a heavy price.
The U.S. military's charge is by no means just a man-sea tactic. Although they were numerically superior, they did not have the courage to confront the fire tongue of the volunteers head-on. They adopted an offensive method of air-ground integration and combining infantry and artillery. Once the infantry is blocked, it will summon aircraft to bomb, heavy artillery bombardment, and then charge again after the fire is suppressed for a period of time. Yang Gensi and the soldiers of the 3 companies and 3 platoons suffered heavy losses under this three-dimensional blow, but they still repelled 8 attacks of the enemy, leaving the enemy with more than a hundred corpses, and the position remained unchanged!
However, this is already the limit. At this time, there were only two people on the position, Yang Gensi and the platoon leader. Their ammunition had run out, the stones they could use had been exhausted, and all that could be used to kill the enemy were a few grenades and an explosive pack. At this time, Yang Gensi ordered the platoon leader to hold the precious heavy machine gun and run back to the battalion headquarters to report the news. He used the remaining equipment to face the enemy alone. After the platoon leader left, the enemy launched a ninth attack, and more than 40 people climbed into the position. Yang Gensi threw out the last grenade, and then rushed into the enemy group with the explosive package. With a shocking explosion, Yang Gensi died with several American troops at the age of 28.
In fact, Yang Gensi did not have to fight to the death on the battlefield. What he faced was ostensibly an enemy battalion, but in reality the rear was the living force of the entire First Marine Division. This highway was by no means something that a company of less than two hundred men could hold. If he chose to retreat after blocking the enemy's attack several times, he was completely forgivable. But the party's education of him over the years has left him with no choice but to retreat. Because he knew that as long as he held on a little longer, the brother troops would have one more hope of victory.
Unfortunately, the volunteer soldiers who were responsible for blocking the enemy behind Yang Gensi had all frozen on the position, which was the famous "Ice Sculpture Company". The remnants of the First Marine Division finally broke through the encirclement. However, the courage of the 9th Corps and Yang Gensi to fight bravely and strike strong with a weak blow will forever be recorded in the annals of history.